Method and system for GPS based navigation and hazard avoidance in a mining environment

ABSTRACT

A system and method for GPS based navigation and hazard avoidance in a mining environment are described. The system includes a central application that has a dynamic roadmap definition module adapted to at least allow a user to arbitrarily define features in a geographical information systems database and import overhead imaging data corresponding to a geographical area in which said features are defined. The central application includes a remote position and attitude reception module adapted to at least receive data concerning the position of at least one remote vehicle, a transceiver module adapted for exchanging data with at least one remote vehicle; and a logging and tracking module adapted for at least logging said position of at least one remote vehicle over time. The system also has a remote application; and a communications link adapted for exchanging data between the central application and the remote application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to global positioning system (“GPS”) based systemsfor controlling the navigation of vehicles in a mining environment.

Mining environments, and open pit mining environments in particular, arecharacterized by two features that are significant to navigation. First,the allowable routes for navigation in a mining environment areconstantly changing. Equipment is routed into and out of the miningenvironment along different routes that can change on a daily or even anhourly basis depending on where material is being removed at aparticular time. The location of allowable routes, whether the routesare one-way or two-way, the day-to-day existence of ramps to allowpassage from one mining level to another, and whether a particular areais open or closed all change rapidly on the basis of mine operations.Adding to the challenge of navigating in the dynamic mining environmentis the fact that there may be few physical visual cues that a driver ina mining environment can consistently rely on to determine where thedriver can drive. In a conventional city street environment routes aredefined by paved roads, curbs, painted lines and traffic signals. In acity street environment, then the user of GPS assisted navigationusually only needs a high level abstract visual representation of thecity street environment to be oriented. Routes in a mining environment,on the other hand, may not be obvious as they can be ad hoc, constantlyshifting, and are often destroyed in the course of day-to-day materialremoval operations.

The second feature significant to navigation in a mining environment isthe presence of hazards distributed throughout the mine. A partial listof navigation hazards includes mobile heavy equipment such has shovels,bulldozers and material removal trucks, unstable slopes or surfaces, lowpoints where water collects or bogs, high voltage power lines fordelivering electricity to mining equipment, and areas where explosivesare being used. Hazards, like allowable routes, change on a daily orhour-by-hour basis in a mining environment.

Given the hazardous and dynamic nature of the mine environment, it wouldbe helpful to establish a system for dynamic definition of a road mapsystem, including a spatial definition of the presence of hazards thatcould be dynamically forwarded to navigation systems embedded invehicles. Due to the ad hoc nature of routes in a mining environment, itwould be useful to present the driver of a vehicle in a miningenvironment with a visual representation of the dynamically defined roadmap system including representations of hazards superimposed on a realoverhead image of the environment. Such a navigation and hazardavoidance system could incorporate additional useful features suchestablishing speed limits across the dynamically defined road map systemand alerting drivers when those speed limits are approached or exceeded.Additionally, such a navigation and hazard avoidance system couldprovide for tracking of vehicles in a mining environment and use suchtracking information to improve routing efficiency, detect vehiclemisuse, or reconstruct accidents.

Systems and methods of providing navigation data, including map data,and collision and hazard avoidance using GPS are known at various levelsin the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,500 B2 to Lemelson et al.describes a system that uses GPS systems on vehicles, augmented by moreaccurate position sensors, to alert a vehicle operator of hazards in theoperator's vicinity, including other vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,114B1 to Rogers et al. describes a hazard warning system for marinevessels. The Rogers system takes GPS position and data information frommarine vessels and forwards to those vessels hazard alerts based on thepositions of other vessels as well as fixed and semi-fixed hazardsderived from nautical charts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,130 to Schlager et al.describes a personal alarm system that alerts an individual when theindividual nears hazards that are detected by a local device. U.S.Patent Application No. 2004/0145496 describes a network that tracks andprovides information regarding the whereabouts of various objects in astreet network including vehicles and individuals. UK Patent ApplicationGB 2421828 describes a traffic management hazard management systemlocated on a vehicle that includes map data and location data obtainedfrom a GPS receiver.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by the preferredembodiments that are set forth in more detail below.

One aspect of the invention includes a navigation and hazard avoidancesystem. The system has a central application that has a dynamic roadmapdefinition module adapted to at least allow a user to arbitrarily definefeatures in a geographical information systems database and importoverhead imaging data corresponding to a geographical area in which saidfeatures are defined. The central application also includes a remoteposition and attitude reception module adapted to at least receive dataconcerning a position of at least one remote vehicle, a transceivermodule adapted for exchanging data with at least one remote vehicle; anda logging and tracking module adapted for at least logging said positionof at least one remote vehicle over time. The system also has a remoteapplication; and a communications link adapted for exchanging databetween the central application and the remote application.

In another aspect of the invention a navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has features that are defined in the geographical informationsystems database include at least one of routes, route attributes,hazards, and points of interest.

In another aspect of the navigation and hazard avoidance system hasfeatures that include the location and type of hazards, and at least tworadii around the hazards representing varying levels of threat.

In another aspect of the invention the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has a remote application that has a position sensor adapted tocalculate the position of at least one remote vehicle based ontriangulation from Global Positioning System satellites. The remoteapplication also has a position tracker adapted to receive, from acentral application, with features defined in the geographicalinformation systems database and overhead imaging data corresponding tothe geographical area in which the features are defined. The remoteapplication also has a navigation aid adapted to display the position ofat least one remote vehicle with respect to features defined in thegeographical information systems database and with respect to overheadimaging data corresponding to the geographical area in which featuresare defined.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has a position tracker that is adapted to transmit the positionof a remote vehicle to the central application. In another aspect of theinvention, the navigation and hazard avoidance system has features thatare defined in a geographical information systems database and includehazards.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has a remote application that has a violation manager adapted fordetermining whether the remote vehicle is close to a hazard.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has a remote application that is adapted for alerting a centralapplication when a vehicle is close to a hazard.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has features defined in a geographical information systemsdatabase that include routes and route speed limits.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem includes a remote application that includes a violation manageradapted for determining whether a remote vehicle is near or has exceededa route speed limit.

In another aspect of the invention, the navigation and hazard avoidancesystem has a remote application that is adapted for alerting a centralapplication when a vehicle is near or has exceeded a route speed limit.

Still further aspects of the invention include methods or systems suchas are set forth above that are implemented on computer readable media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a network of applicationsaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between a central application and a remoteapplication according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed schematic representation of a remote applicationaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a display of a device running a remote applicationaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a network 100 of functional nodes arranged according to theinvention. A central node 105 is arranged to communicate with remotemobile nodes 110 and remote semi-static nodes 120. The central node 105includes an application that runs at least partially on centralphysically stationary computer. The central node 105 may also optionallyinclude certain functions such as processing or storage that aredistributed among multiple computers that communicate as part of alocal, wide area or global network.

The mobile nodes 110 include applications that run on computers or otherdata processing devices located in vehicles, for example light vehiclesthat can be found in a mining environment such as pickup trucks. Theapplications included in the mobile nodes 110 are optionally included ina personal data assistant (“PDA”) accessible by the driver of a vehicle,but can also be included in a laptop, smart phone, or other programmabledata device. The mobile nodes 110 communicate with the central node 105by using a data capable radio link such as a WiFi 802.g or 802.n orequivalent. The link between a mobile node 110 and a central node 105will generally only be required to operate over typical distances foundin a mining environment, which are small when compared to, for example,larger city or suburban environments.

Semi-static nodes 120 include applications that run on computers orother data processing devices located in semi-static or slow movingobjects, for example heavy mine equipment. A piece of earth movingequipment like a shovel that might remain relatively stationary at aparticular work area might house a semi-static node. Semi-static nodes120 also communicate with the central node 105 by using a data capableradio link such as a WiFi 802.g or 802.n or equivalent.

Both the mobile nodes 110 and the semi-static nodes 120 receive signalsfrom a plurality of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites 115,which allow the determination of the latitude and longitude of thevehicles or equipment housing the respective node.

FIG. 2 illustrates how a system according to the invention maintains acentral application 200 that communicates via a communications link 225with at least one local application 230.

The central application 200 includes at least four modules: a dynamicroadmap generation module 205; a remote position and attitude receptionmodule 210, a transceiver module 215 and a logging and tracking module220.

The dynamic roadmap generation module 205 allows for a user toarbitrarily define features in a geographical information systems (GIS)database. The arbitrarily defined features can include accepted areas oftravel, or routes, as well as route attributes such as speed limits andwhether a route can carry one-way or two-way traffic. The dynamicroadmap generation module 205 also allows a user to define hazards. Ahazard defined in the dynamic roadmap generation module 205 is definedaccording to its position in the geographical information systemsdatabase and a variable that defines the type of hazard. The dynamicroadmap generation module 205 also allows a user to define variouszones, for example radii, around the hazard that represent variouslevels of threat.

The types of hazards that can be defined include mobile, but slow, heavyequipment such has shovels, bulldozers and material removal trucks,unstable slopes or surfaces, low points where water collects or bogs,high voltage power lines for delivering electricity to mining equipment,and areas where explosives are being used.

The dynamic roadmap generation module 205 also allows the user to defineeither static or mobile points of interest, for example, the locationsof work sites or pieces of equipment.

Additionally, the dynamic roadmap generation module 205 also allows auser to import overhead imaging data, for example, imaging datagenerated by overhead satellites or aerial surveys. The dynamic roadmapgeneration module 205 allows such overhead imaging data to be orientedand scaled according to a coordinate system, for example, latitude andlongitude, so that routes and hazards can be defined in relation to theoverhead imaging data.

The central application 200 includes a remote position and attitudereception module 210. The remote position and attitude reception modulereceives data regarding the position, direction and speed of remotevehicles. Remote vehicles in a mining environment can include both lightvehicles and slowly moving heavy equipment. The position, direction andspeed of remote vehicles can be received directly by the remote positionand attitude reception module 210, or can be calculated by the remoteposition and attitude reception module from base data, for example, theposition of a remote vehicle over time. The position of the remotevehicle over time can be expressed, for example, as a trace or set oftime varying latitude and longitude coordinates generated, for example,by a GPS receiver at the remote vehicle.

The central application 200 includes a transceiver module 215. Thetransceiver module 215 receives data from remote vehicles, for example,traces or sets of time varying latitude and longitude coordinatesreflecting the positions of remote vehicles.

The central application 200 also includes a logging and tracking module220. The logging and tracking module 210 includes a database that storestraces representing the path taken by remote vehicles in communicationwith the central application 200. The logging and tracking module'sdatabase can also include other information about the remote vehiclesthat is indexed to various points on the trace. For example, the loggingand tracking module can store the speed at which a vehicle was moving asa function of time or position, the condition of the vehicle, forexample, data generated by diagnostic application on board the remotevehicles, whether the vehicle has violated any rules associated withfeatures defined by the dynamic roadmap generation system, for example,whether a vehicle has gotten too close to a hazard.

The central application 200 communicates remotely with one or moreremote applications 230 over a communication link 225. The communicationlink 225 is any data transmission system capable of transmitting datafrom one or more mobile applications 230 to the central application 200.The communication link 225 can use any combination of wireless and wireddata communication infrastructure known in the art. The communicationlink 225 can be implemented by, for example, a direct two-way radio datatransmission link linking the individual vehicles to the centralapplication. Alternatively, the communication link 225 can be a wirelessdata signal operating according to any of the various IEEE 802.11standards to communicate with fixed transceivers distributed around themining environment, which are in turn connected to a wired data network.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of a remote application running on a remotevehicle according to the present invention. The remote application ofFIG. 3 includes a position sensor 305. The position sensor 305 detectsthe position of the remote vehicle, for example, by triangulating thevehicle's position in relation to fixed satellites, such as is known inGPS related art. The position sensor 305 might also determine theposition of the remote vehicle by other means such as by triangulatingthe vehicle's position in relation to terrestrial transmitters locatedin a mining environment. The position sensor 305 optionally can use acombination of methods or systems to determine position, for example, bydetermining a rough position using GPS and performing error correctionby terrestrial references.

The position sensor 305 outputs data to a position tracker 310. Theposition tracker 310 receives information from a central application,not shown, regarding a defined roadmap system, and tracks the vehicle'sposition with respect to that roadmap system. The roadmap system, notshown, includes defined features such as acceptable routes, attributesof those routes such as speed limits and whether the route is one-way ortwo-way, the location of hazards, the distance from particular hazardsthat is permitted, and the positions of other vehicles. The positiontracker 310 can be updated in real time from a central application, notshown, which allows the roadmap, route attributes, and hazards to beupdated as they change.

The remote application 300 includes a number of modules that act on datareceived from the position tracker 310. A speed checker 315 checks thespeed of the vehicle against the allowable speed for a particular areadefined on the roadmap. The speed checker 315 can calculate the speedfrom GPS or other data received from the position sensor or might readthe vehicle's speed directly from the vehicle. A proximity detector 320checks the vehicles position against the location of objects defined inthe roadmap. The vehicle's position is typically checked against objectssuch as, for example, defined hazards, other vehicles, areas that havebeen defined as out-of-bounds or not on a defined route, or areas thatare on a defined route but that only permit a particular direction oftravel.

Information from the speed tracker 315 and proximity detector 320 ispassed to the violation manager 330. The violation manager 330 includesa rule set that compares the location and attitude of the vehicle withattributes defined in the roadmap and returns an indication if certainrules are violated. Rules within the violation manager 330 canoptionally govern such conditions as whether the remote vehicle hasviolated a speed limit associated with a particular route, whether thevehicle is proceeding in the wrong direction along a particular route,whether the remote vehicle has left a designated route, entered anoff-limits area, or neared a hazard to come too close to anothervehicle. Rules included in the violation manager 330 need not beBoolean. The violation manager can, for example, maintain variousdistances around hazards and trigger different indications as thevehicle gets closer to the hazard. Similarly, the violation manager 330can return different indications depending on how far off a designatedroad a vehicle has ventured.

Depending on the definition of the rule set of the violation manager330, the remote application 300 can take varying actions when a rule isviolated. When a rule is violated an indication can be sent from theremote vehicle to a different location, for example, a centralapplication (not shown). When a vehicle comes too close to a predefinedhazard, for example, a central office at the mine can be notified sothat the event can be logged. The violation manager 330 can additionallyor alternatively supply an audible alarm to a speaker 340 or a visualalarm to a screen 335 visible to the driver of the remote vehicle.

The remote application 300 optionally includes a navigation aid 325 thatreceives the position, direction and speed of the remote vehicle fromthe position tracker 310. The navigation aid 325 receives roadmap datagenerated by, for example, a central application (not shown) including adynamic roadmap generation module 205, as described with respect to FIG.2. The navigation aid 325 includes a representation of a roadmap systemdefined in a geographical information systems database. Therepresentation of a roadmap system includes geographical features suchas acceptable routes, route attributes, hazards, out-of-bounds areas andthe location of points of interests, for example individual work sitesor pieces of equipment. The navigation aid 325 optionally includesoverhead imaging data generated, for example, by satellite or aerialphotography that is scaled and oriented to be co-extensive with therepresentation of the roadmap system. The navigation aid 325 optionallyincludes a navigation application that calculates acceptable routesbetween points in the roadmap system.

The navigation aid 325 displays the location of the remote vehicle onthe visual representation of the roadmap system, overplayed on overheadimaging data on the screen 335. A graphical user interface (GUI), notshown, allows a user to alter the scale and orientation of the visualrepresentation of the roadmap system and plot acceptable routes betweenthe current location of the remote vehicle and predefined points ofinterest.

The remote application 300 can optionally include a user messagingfunction 345 that alerts the user of messages, such as instant messagesor electronic mail, relayed to remote application 300 from a centralapplication not shown. When a user receives a message, audible alarmscan be sent to the speaker 340 and visual alarms as well as a display ofthe message itself can be sent to the screen.

The remote application 300 may also optionally include a data storagemodule 355 that is updated from a central application not shown. Forexample, the remote application 300 may include a database 360 thatstores roadmap data, overhead imaging data, or time varying data on aremote vehicle's position and/or condition. The database 360 can beperiodically updated by the central application, not shown, through aData Synchronizer 365

The remote application along with any necessary data storage andcommunications hardware can be included in a variety of known devices,for example handheld personal data assistants (PDAs), laptop computers,or “smart” cellular telephones.

Referring to FIG. 4, a personal data assistant (PDA) 400 is shown. ThePDA 400 includes a remote application such as is described with respectto FIG. 3. The PDA includes a display screen 405 including an overheadperspective visual representation of a mine environment. The PDA screen405 includes a representation of a predefined route 415 through the mineenvironment connecting a representation of a vehicle 410 with therepresentation of some point of interest 420. The PDA display screen 405also optionally includes a speed limit indicator 425 that indicates theallowable speed for the route 415 and is optionally adapted to flash toprovide a warning when the speed limit is neared or exceeded.

The invention has been described with regard to particular specificembodiments. Other embodiments and equivalents will be understood bythose of skill in the art to be encompassed within the spirit of thedisclosure and/or within the following claims.

1. A navigation and hazard avoidance system for a mining environmentcomprising: a central computer including storage and a processor runninga central application, the central application including: a dynamicroadmap definition module in communication with a geographicalinformation systems database stored in said storage, wherein the dynamicroadmap definition module is configured to at least allow a user toarbitrarily define features in said geographical information systemsdatabase and import overhead imaging data corresponding to ageographical area in which said features are defined, wherein: thefeatures include a mobile heavy equipment, the mobile heavy equipmentincluding at least one of a shovel, a bulldozer and a material removaltruck, and a plurality of zones defined around each of the features,each of the plurality of zones defining a different threat level andincluding a different geographical area, the threat level beingdetermined by a current position of the mobile heavy equipment; atransceiver module in communication with a radio transceiver, configuredto exchange data with at least one remote vehicle; a remote position andattitude reception module in communication with said transceiver moduleand configured to at least receive data concerning a position of atleast one remote vehicle; and a logging and tracking module configuredto log said position of at least one remote vehicle over time; aposition sensor configured to calculate said position of said at leastone remote vehicle based on triangulation from Global Positioning Systemsatellites; a remote application running on a remote computer, theremote application including: a position tracker configured to receive,from the central application, said features defined in the geographicalinformation systems database and said overhead imaging datacorresponding to the geographical area in which said features aredefined, a navigation aid configured to display said position of said atleast one remote vehicle with respect to the features defined in thegeographical information systems database and with respect to saidoverhead imaging data corresponding to the geographical area in whichsaid features are defined, and a violation manager configured to:compare said position of said at least one remote vehicle to a currentposition of a first feature retrieved from the geographical informationsystems database, wherein; determine whether said position of said atleast one remote vehicle falls within one of the plurality of zonesdefining a different threat level defined around the first feature; andwhen said position of said at least one remote vehicle falls within oneof the plurality of zones defining a different threat level definedaround the first feature: sound an audible alarm to a user of the atleast one remote vehicle, return an indication having a type, the typeof the indication being determined by a distance between said at leastone remote vehicle and the feature; and a communications link configuredto exchange data between the central computer and the remote computer.2. The navigation and hazard avoidance system of claim 1 wherein saidposition tracker is adapted to transmit the position of a remote vehicleto the central application.
 3. The navigation and hazard avoidancesystem of claim 1 wherein said features defined in said geographicalinformation systems database include routes and route speed limits. 4.The navigation and hazard avoidance system of claim 3 wherein saidremote application further comprises a violation manager adapted fordetermining whether the remote vehicle is near or has exceeded a routespeed limit.
 5. The navigation and hazard avoidance system of claim 4wherein said remote application is adapted for alerting said centralapplication when a vehicle is near or has exceeded a route speed limit.6. A computer readable medium having instructions operable to define anavigation and hazard avoidance system for a mining environmentcomprising: a central application having: a dynamic roadmap definitionmodule configured to at least allow a user to arbitrarily definefeatures in a geographical information systems database and importoverhead imaging data corresponding to a geographical area in which saidfeatures are defined, wherein: the features include a mobile heavyequipment, the mobile heavy equipment including at least one of ashovel, a bulldozer and a material removal truck, and a plurality ofzones defined around each of the features, each of the plurality ofzones defining a different threat level and including a differentgeographical area, the threat level being determined by the mobile heavyequipment; a remote position and attitude reception module configured toat least receive data concerning a position of at least one remotevehicle; a transceiver module configured to exchange data with at leastone remote vehicle; and a logging and tracking module configured to atleast log said position of at least one remote vehicle over time; aposition sensor configured to calculate said position of said at leastone remote vehicle based on triangulation from Global Positioning Systemsatellites; a remote application, the remote application including: aposition tracker configured to receive, from the central application,said features defined in the geographical information systems databaseand said overhead imaging data corresponding to the geographical area inwhich said features are defined, a navigation aid configured to displaysaid position of said at least one remote vehicle with respect to thefeatures defined in the geographical information systems database andwith respect to said overhead imaging data corresponding to thegeographical area in which said features are defined, and a violationmanager configured to: compare said position of said at least one remotevehicle to a position of a first feature defined in the geographicalinformation systems database, determine whether said position of said atleast one remote vehicle falls within one of the plurality of zonesdefining a different threat level defined around the first feature, andwhen said position of said at least one remote vehicle falls within oneof the plurality of zones sounding an audible alarm to a user of the atleast one remote vehicle and returning an indication having a type, thetype of the indication being determined by a distance between said atleast one remote vehicle and the feature; and a communications linkconfigured to exchange data between the central application and theremote application.
 7. The computer readable medium of claim 6 whereinsaid position tracker is adapted to transmit the position of a remotevehicle to the central application.
 8. The computer readable medium ofclaim 6 wherein said features defined in said geographical informationsystems database include routes and route speed limits.
 9. The computerreadable medium of claim 8 wherein said remote application furthercomprises a violation manager adapted for determining whether the remotevehicle is near or has exceeded a route speed limit.
 10. The computerreadable medium of claim 9 wherein said remote application is adaptedfor alerting said central application when a vehicle is near or hasexceeded a route speed limit.
 11. A navigation and hazard avoidancesystem for a mining environment comprising: a central computer includingstorage and a processor running a central application, the centralapplication being configured to allow a user to define features andimport overhead imaging data corresponding to a geographical area inwhich the features are defined, wherein the features include a mobileheavy equipment, the mobile heavy equipment including at least one of ashovel, a bulldozer and a material removal truck, and a plurality ofzones defined around each of the features, each of the plurality ofzones defining a different threat level and including a differentgeographical area, the threat level being determined by the mobile heavyequipment; a position sensor configured to calculate the position of aremote vehicle; a remote application running on a remote computer, theremote application including: a navigation aid configured to retrievethe features, the plurality of zones, and the overhead imaging data fromthe central computer, and display the position of the vehicle withrespect to the features and the overhead imaging data, and a violationmanager configured to: compare the position of the vehicle to a positionof a first feature retrieved from the central computer, determinewhether the position of the vehicle falls within one of the plurality ofzones defining a different threat level defined around the firstfeature, and when the position of the vehicle falls within one of theplurality of zones, sound an audible alarm to a user of the vehicle andreturning an indication having a type, the type of the indication beingdetermined by a distance between the vehicle and the feature.